Not as speedy as its Intel counterparts. Pricier than expected. Heavier than the competition.

Bottom Line

The HP Pavilion dv7-3164cl should be cheaper, since it's not as speedy as its peers.

HP's flagship desktop replacementthe Pavilion dv717-inch desktop replacement laptop has more configurations than you can fit on a piece of paper It's hard to spot the differences from the outside, since most of them assume the same basic design, keyboards, and connectivity ports. The core differences are based on processor brands, type of graphics, and storage capacity. That said, the HP Pavilion dv7-3164cl ($749.99), available at Costco, runs on AMD partsa 2.3GHz Turion M520 processor and ATI Radeon 4200 graphicsand while it multitasks well, there are faster machines that cost about as much, if not less.

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Design
The laptop's black glossy finish is fused with wavy lines and circular patterns, which keeps the design interesting. A completely black finish would have made smudges and fingerprints stick out like a sore thumb. Design selection is limited with the dv7, as is the case with the Gateway NV7915u ($600 street, ) and Acer Aspire AS7740-5961 ($649.98 list, ). The Dell Inspiron 1764-5955IBU ($799.98 list, ) has some extra color choices, including Ice Blue, Obsidian Black, and Promise Pink. At 7 pounds, the dv7-3164cl is also one of the heaviest 17-inch laptops, outweighing the Dell 1764-5955IBU (6.2 lbs) and the Gateway NV7915u (6.7 lbs).

The dv7-3164cl's 17.3-inch screen is ideal for those who are transitioning from a desktop or are in need of a really big screen. The BrightView display is magnificently sharp and the type multi-taskers yearn for. Its 1,600-by-900 resolution can turn movies and photos into an immersive experience. That said, spending more than $1,000 can significantly improve the screen resolution. Case in point: The more costly, Acer Aspire AS8940-6865 ($1,399 street, ) has a full HD screen (1,920 by 1,080).

Features
The HP Pavilion typing experience hasn't changed in more than three years, which is a good thing if you're partial to traditional keyboards. All the keys are interconnected, with grooves in between them, as opposed to the isolated ones on the Acer AS7740-5961 and Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch (Unibody) ($2,799 direct, ). It's a pleasant typing experience, reinforced by a wide touchpad and easy-to-click mouse buttons. A full-size numeric keypad and a button that disables the touchpad are present as well.

A $750 laptop will likely exclude some features, although the ones on the dv7-3164cl are sufficient for most users. Spending more money on the HP Pavilion dv7-3183cl ($999.99 list, ), for instance, will get you a FireWire port and a 500GB hard drive. Even better, the HP Pavilion dv7-3180us ($1,449.98 list, ) includes a Blu-ray drive and a quad-core processor. The dv7-3164cl, on the other hand, omits the FireWire port and comes with a 320GB hard drive. It has a built-in HDMI-Out port, for those who want to take the viewing experience to a bigger screen, provided that they have an HDMI cable. There are four USB ports, VGA-Out, a multimedia card reader, and a Webcam. The included dual-layer DVD burner can read and burn DVDs.

Performance
AMD components are generally value options designed to bring down costs, but still letting you perform processor-intensive tasks like video editing, photo rendering, and CD ripping. Are AMD processors as fast as Intel cjips? In a word, no. The dv7-3164cl runs on a 2.3GHz AMD Turion II M520 processor, which trails the entry-level CPUs in Intel's Arrandale familythe Core i3s. Against the Gateway NV7915u, which runs a 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330M CPU, the dv7-3164cl fell behind in video encoding (1 minute 12 seconds), CineBench R10 (4,714), and PCMark Vantage tests (3,993). And it was no match against the speedy HP dv7-3183cl and Dell 1764-5955IBU, which run on Core i5 processors.

AMD, however, does have the advantage in the graphics departmentas long as we're talking about budget desktop replacements. Although budget systems like the Gateway NV7915u and Dell 1764-5955IBU use Intel's integrated graphics, the dv7-3164cl includes a discrete chipset: the ATI Mobility Radeon 4200. The dv7-3164cl's 3DMark06 scores easily surpass that of its Intel counterparts, though hardcore 3D games like Crysis and World in Conflict were choppy at times and better played on midrange (or better) graphics.

The dv7-3164cl's battery score of 3 hours 40 minutes on MobileMark 2007 was as impressive as that of the HP dv7-3183cl (3:36); both of them have the same batteries (73WHr), though different processors.

If every ounce of performance matters greatly for you, a desktop replacement with an Intel Core i3 (or Core i5) processor will generally be faster than one with an AMD Turion processor. But don't write off the HP Pavilion dv7-3164cl just yet. It multitasks as well as most Intel machines and can run high-end applications like Adobe Photoshop CS4 and hardcore video editing programs. And it offers above average battery life. Otherwise, the Gateway NV7915u and Dell Inspiron 1764-5955IBU are better bargains. Or, if you're willing to splurge, the Editors' Choice Acer Aspire AS8940-6865 is a fantastic, all-around desktop replacement laptop.

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About the Author

Cisco Cheng is the Lead Analyst of the laptop team at PCMag.com. He’s a one-man wrecking crew who tests and writes about anything considered a laptop (yes, even netbooks). He’s been with PC Mag for over 10 years and gets occasional headaches from all the technical knowledge he has absorbed during that time. He’d still be snowboarding and playing ba... See Full Bio

HP Pavilion dv7-3164cl

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